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Monthly Archives: July 2011

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Hardly a day goes past this time of the year when I don’t have something fresh from the garden. The possibilities are endless when you have a the likes of tomatoes, beans, summer squash, peppers and onions.

I just finished off a big bowl of steamed green and yellow beans that was tossed with a little butter and seasoned with salt, pepper and white wine vinegar. A tomato on the side completed my all-vegetarian lunch.

I’ve been doing a bit of digging lately for some new recipes to try, especially ones that include eggplant, since a bumper crop of the purple beauty is imminent. Here’s a pasta dish that caught my eye that also includes zucchini, onion, basil and tomatoes. (You could use whichever vegetable combination you want for this dish.) The vegetables are roasted before being combined with cooked pasta such as fusilli and then topped with Parmesan cheese.

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables and Basil
¼ cup olive oil, divided
1 medium eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Favorite all-purpose seasoning
4 yellow summer squash or zucchini (about 1¼ pounds total), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 medium red or white onions, halved and sliced ½-inch thick
1 pint grape tomatoes, rinsed
8 ounces short pasta, such as cavatappi or fusilli
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 cup torn fresh basil leaves
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Have ready 2 large (10-by-15-inch) rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil on one large rimmed baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the oven while it’s preheating. Prepare all the vegetables.
When the oven is preheated, remove the baking sheet and quickly add the eggplant cubes and garlic to the baking sheet (they will sizzle) and season with salt, pepper and seasoning. Using tongs, toss quickly, but carefully because the oil is hot. Return to the oven and roast until the eggplant is just tender, but not mushy, about 20 minutes.
On the other baking sheet, place summer squash or zucchini, onions and tomatoes. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper and seasoning. Toss to coat. Place in the oven and roast until the vegetables are just tender and still hold their shape, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, and return to pot.
Add vegetables, butter, Parmesan and basil to pasta; season with salt and pepper, and toss gently to combine. Serve with more cheese if desired.
Yield: Serves 4.
Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 474 calories, 38 percent of calories from fat, 20 grams fat (7 grams saturated), 60 grams carbohydrates, 16 grams protein, 626 milligrams sodium, 24 milligrams cholesterol, 6 grams fiber.

If you’ve never had a homemade brownie served with a scoop of ice cream and some freshly picked raspberries, you just don’t know what you’re missing. I was the recipient of such a treat this past week.

Our raspberry patch has been producing nicely this summer, so we’ve had quite a few opportunities to sample the tasty red berries. They’ve been a nice addition to my morning bowl of oatmeal as well as a being a good snack. Plus, there have been enough to freeze, too.

And when Therese made a batch of tasty brownies this past week, it allowed us yet another chance to use some of them as a topping for the chocolate morsels and a bit of vanilla ice cream.

Therese’s brownies are hard to beat, but the following recipe that I came across recently looks like it might give my hers a run for its money. With a delicate, crisp crust wrapped around a gooey filling and then coated with more chocolate,, this brownie might be called perfect by some dessert aficionados.

The Perfect Brownies
BROWNIES:
½ pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
½ pound salted butter
5 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons almond extract
1½ tablespoons instant coffee
3¾ cups sugar
1½ cups plus 2½ tablespoons (7 ounces) flour
1 cup chopped walnut pieces
Line 2 9-inch square baking pans with foil, and grease the foil. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, combine the bittersweet chocolate and butter, stirring frequently until melted and combined. Remove from heat and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, beat the eggs, vanilla and almond extracts, coffee and sugar over high speed until combined and the mixture increases in volume (it will look almost like softened ice cream), 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the mixer.
Beat in the melted chocolate and butter over low speed just until combined. Add the flour and nuts and stir just until incorporated.
Pour the batter into the pans, dividing evenly between the 2 pans. Bake the brownies until barely set: A crust will form on top, and a toothpick inserted will be very gooey (though not wet like the batter), 20 to 25 minutes.
Remove the brownies and cool to room temperature, then refrigerate the brownies (still in the pans) for at least 6 hours to chill and fully set.
GANACHE AND ASSEMBLY:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
¾ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons milk
7½ tablespoons salted butter
Prepared brownies
4 ounces white chocolate
Place the bittersweet chocolate in a large bowl.
In a large saucepan, combine the cream, milk and butter and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat. Pour the mixture over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted and combined with the cream mixture, forming a ganache.
Remove the chilled brownies from the refrigerator, and invert the pans over a cooling rack set over a large rimmed baking sheet (the sheet will catch the excess ganache when it is poured over the brownies). Peel the foil liner away from the brownies.
Pour the ganache over the brownies, making sure it covers the tops of both batches (do not worry about the sides, as these will be trimmed when the brownies are cut).
Set the brownies aside to allow the ganache to cool and set.
Melt the white chocolate (place it in a glass container and heat it in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds or so, until completely melted). Place the white chocolate in a piping bag, coronet or a sealable plastic bag (after the chocolate is added to the bag, trim one of the tips to the desired size to make a makeshift piping bag).
Streak the brownies with the white chocolate, then set them aside to give the white chocolate time to harden.
Trim the edges from the brownies, then cut the brownies into squares; each pan makes about 9 (3-inch) squares.
Yield: 18 brownies.
Approximate nutritional analysis per brownie: 574 calories, 6 grams protein, 66 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 35 grams fat (18 grams saturated), 107 milligrams cholesterol, 53 grams sugar, 162 milligrams sodium.

I’ve always liked food with a little zing, no matter if it’s an appetizer, side or main course. One of my mottos when I was younger was, “More hotter, more better.” My tastes have tamed down some as I’ve gotten a little older, but spicy food still appeals to me.

Earlier today, we went out for lunch at the Blue Moose restaurant in East Grand Forks, and I ordered a mini-salad that featured some buffalo chicken with a Caribbean flair. It was excellent with the blue cheese dressing that accompanied it.

But you don’t have to go out to enjoy this kind of food. After returning home, I came across the following recipe for this jerk-seasoned chicken salad along with another for a with berries. Combined, they could make a quick, refreshing summer supper.

I grew up eating a lot of pasta hotdishes and casseroles. We would have them at home at least once or twice a week, and I could always count on at least that many for school hot lunch every week or so.

And I liked just about every one, no matter what kind. I can remember only one hotdish that I didn’t like, and it wasn’t made my mom or by my Auntie Helen, who was the head cook at our school.

I still am pretty fond of pasta hotdish. Therese makes one with ground meat, green beans, a can of tomato soup and a little onion. (Her secret ingredient is a dash of Worcestershire sauce.) It’s one of our grandchildren’s favorite meals. They have fondly have named it “Grandma’s Hotdish.”

Here’s a recipe for another hotdish that just came my way from the National Pasta Association. It’s called Mexican-Style Bow Ties. The recipe offers a way for families to enjoy a fast family-style Mexican meal with a new twist.

I’ve never had a stand of tomato plants like the one growing this summer in my backyard. Combined with burgeoning crops of cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, kale and dozens of species of flower, it makes stepping onto our deck seem more like a tropical adventure than anything I’ve experienced in my life.

We just started eating the tomatoes and should be sampling the first cucumbers and peppers in a week or so. That means I can start thinking about making a cold soup called gazpacho, which contains all three as well as onion, garlic, tomato juice and fresh chives. A bowl of the soup is a nice way to chill out on a hot summer day.

Here’s a new recipe for gazpacho that I’m going to try, which looks delicious, and should be perfect for the next hot spell.

I like meatballs, especially when they’re cooked in a marinara sauce and served with spaghetti. Meatballs in a brown gravy that accompany mashed potatoes are also hard to beat. And they’re not too shabby in a sub sandwich, either.
But how about meatball lettuce wraps? I just came across a recipe for those that was adapted from one in Good Housekeeping magazine’s, May 2011 issue. (You can either bake the meatballs or grill them.)

Among the ingredients in the recipe are fresh cilantro, green onions, mint, carrots, limes and fish sauce or nuoc cham , a salty condiment made from fermented anchovies. (Look for it in the Asian foods section of the market.)

I’m rarely tempted to eat salad when we go out to eat during the summer. Twice in the past two days, I’ve been out to eat and have passed on salads because we have them at home at almost every dinner, and they always are much better, especially with all the fresh produce available from my garden.

Most of the time, our salads are a side, but there is the occasional meal when that’s all we’ll have, with perhaps the exception of some homemade bread.

We’ve had a great crop of lettuce, spinach, Swiss chard and kale this year, but soon there will be other vegetables ready such as bell peppers, zucchini and eggplant that can turn an ordinary salad into the main course.

And if you were to add something like shrimp, as the following recipe adapted from one in Patricia Wells’ “Salad as a Meal: Healthy Main-Dish Salads for Every Season” (Morrow, $34.99) demonstrates, you really have a full-blown meal.

If you’ve ever eaten mud pie, you know that there’s no going back once you’ve tried it. The decadent dessert contains a gooey chocolate filling on top of a crumbly chocolate crust and is usually served with ice cream

While its exact origin isn’t know, mud pie probably was created in Mississippi and named for the longest river in the U.S., some say because it resembled the banks of the Big Muddy. And now, it is known worldwide, owing in large part to the sheer amount of chocolate in each serving.

I have some recollections of my first taste of mud pie. I think it was at the Blue Moose restaurant in East Grand Forks shortly Therese became my bride. We were at the Moose with several friends, and after a delicious meal, we all shared a pie of mud pie, partly because it was so big and partly because it was so rich.

I haven’t had mud pie in a while, but just recently came across a recipe for it that was penned by Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. It is one of a number of recipes in a new book by Julie Loria, wife of Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria. (See related story at www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/210291/.)

“Diamond Dishes — From the Kitchens of Baseball’s Biggest Stars” (Lyons, $24.95) also features recipes from the 18 other Major League All-Stars, the likes of Alex Rodriguez (baked kale chips), Albert Pujols (Dominican beans and rice) and Josh Hamilton (pulled pork sandwich).

Here’s Utley’s recipe for mud pie, which I hope (hint) someone will make for me soon.

Chase Utley’s Ultimate Mud Pie
CHOCOLATE CRUMB CRUST:
1½ cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pie pan
1 tablespoon sugar
FILLING:
3 cups half-and-half
2/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup cornstarch
4 large egg yolks
5 ounces high-quality bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
TOPPING:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons chocolate wafer crumbs, for garnish
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie pan.
To make the crust, combine the crumbs, melted butter, and sugar in a medium bowl until moistened. Press firmly and evenly into the pie pan. Bake until the crust is set and smells like warm cookies, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.
To make the filling, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat 2½ cups of the half-and-half, the sugar, and the salt, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, until simmering. Pour into a heatproof bowl. Rinse out the saucepan.
In a small bowl, sprinkle the cornstarch over the remaining ½ cup half-and-half and whisk until dissolved. Whisk the yolks in a medium bowl, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Gradually whisk in the hot half-and-half mixture and return to the rinsed-out saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a flat wooden spatula (to keep the mixture from scorching), until it comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the mixture bubble, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate, butter, and vanilla, and whisk until the chocolate melts completely. Strain through a wire sieve into a clean bowl.
Pour the filling into the cooled crust and press plastic wrap directly on the filling to keep a skin from forming. Let cool completely. Refrigerate until the filling is chilled and set, at least 2 hours.
To make the topping, whip the cream, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla in a chilled medium bowl with an electric mixer set on high speed until stiff. Uncover the pie. Spread and swirl the topping over the filling. (If you wish, transfer the whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, and pipe the cream onto the pie.) Sprinkle pie with cookie crumbs. Slice and serve chilled.
Yield: Serves 8.

Anyone who knows me well can tell you that salmon is one of my favorite foods. Whenever I come across a new recipe for salmon, my interest is immediately piqued.

Earlier this week, I was reading a story about how California salmon have returned after enforced three-year hiatus. It seems that after peaking with a 2003 catch that totaled more than 7 million pounds, the bottom fell out of the state’s fishery. By 2007, fewer than 2 million pounds were caught, and the next year it was closed altogether. This spring the season was reopened, on a limited basis, so residents probably are now seeing California salmon in the grocery store again.

The story went on to talk about ways to cook salmon and shared the following recipe for the prized seafood that accompanied by a dill mayonnaise sauces.

Oven-Steamed Salmon with Dill Mayonnaise
1½- to 2-pound salmon fillet, in 1 piece
Salt
Oil
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon minced shallots
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ cup minced fresh dill
1½ teaspoons lemon juice
Heat the oven to 250 degrees. Place the salmon, meat side up, on a cutting board and feel along the surface of the flesh with your fingertips just above and below the midline. If you feel pin bones, pluck them out with tweezers or needle-nose pliers. Season the salmon with ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste, and place on a jellyroll pan lined with lightly oiled aluminum foil.
When the oven is ready, place a baking pan on the floor of the oven and fill it with boiling water. Place the pan with the salmon on the rack. Cook until a paring knife or toothpick penetrates the flesh easily, 20 to 25 minutes. Note that the flesh will be somewhat denser than usual and that it won’t change color as much as with other cooking methods.
While the salmon is cooking, prepare the dressing. Combine the mayonnaise, shallots, mustard and dill in a food processor or blender or use a mortar and pestle and puree until fairly smooth. There should still be some dots of herbs visible. Add lemon juice and puree again. Taste, correct seasoning and set aside.
When the salmon is done cooking, there will probably be some white collagen collected on the surface. Moisten a pastry brush with oil and lightly brush it away.
Serve the salmon on a large platter with a bit of the mayonnaise spooned to one side. Serve the remainder of the mayonnaise in a bowl to pass. Tell your guests to scoop up the salmon with a spoon, leaving the skin behind.
Yield: Serves 8.
Approximate nutritional analysis per servings: 407 calories, 21 grams protein, 1 gram carbohydrates, no fiber, 35 grams fat (5 grams saturated), 71 milligrams cholesterol, no sugar, 406 milligrams sodium.

Potato salad is one of those side dishes that is a must for summer picnics, backyard barbecues and other such events.And I’m not the only one who thinks that. A number of food-related polls that I’ve looked at recently confirm that potato salad is the No. 1 pick of people (www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/209552/).

Of course, everyone has their favorite potato salad, and it usually is their mother’s. My mom’s was always tops in my book until I tasted Therese’s. My wife’s potato is probably the best I’ve ever eaten.

When discussing this with a friend, Marian Moen, she offered to share a potato salad dressing recipe that she makes that was handed down to her by her mother.

I’m sharing that recipe here, along with two kinds of potato salad recipes, with the hopes of giving it a try before the end of summer.